ScottC

It's the "old" 904 machine. 4GB SSD and 512MB memory. Not a bad deal, but not great either

It was stupid of Target to pick a Linux machine, as I'm not sure that the average Target shopper will be too thrilled to take the thing home only to realize that it won't run any of their games.

PTravel

For Acer One Aspires, you want to make sure you get the 6-cell battery, rather than the 3-cell, and the 160 gigabyte hard drive model, rather than the 120 gigabyte model.

buy.com has them for $329 US with free shipping:

http://www.buy.com/prod/acer-aspire-...209027371.html

Mikey likes it

For nothing but web surfing/blogging and occasionally printing a grocery list from Google Docs, I imagine Linux would be a smaller, faster OS. True? Or no? I know I can get Firefox for Linux, and I believe Firefox add-ons are platform independent?

I'm about to pull the trigger on a netbook and don't want to over- or underbuy. Specific recommendations based on the use mentioned above?

ScottC

Yes - Linux would appear to be the better option, but in my experience it will eventually piss you off. Sooner or later you'll want to connect your iPod, or do something Windowsy, and you'll regret it.

It will run Firefox, and all its plugins, and it will run Thunderbird, but at the end of the day I did not find it all that faster or smaller. A basic XP installation can be tiny, especially once you strip a lot of the bulk out of it.

BiziBB

Mikey, in your situation I'd try to get into a few shops and compare the netbooks side-by-side. I think the software issue is just one aspect of deciding - here are my own factors for deciding. I think you're better off buying what suit you best, rather than today's deal of the day.

Try doing what you want to use the netbook for.
Try to type what you normally type, access the websites/services you use.
How is the keyboard, the screen (size, legibility, brightness, overall quality in your eyes), the size of the unit, the weight of it.
Especially try the keyboard as some hate the small right-side shift button; some people have issues with keyboard flex. Others want the largest possible keys (a la HP models).

How is the trackpad - and especially, the mouse keys? I hate those right-left keys and prefer the normal keys under the pad.

Try the 8.9" and the 10.2" models, preferably as a playoff between the sizes, then between ones of the same size. I prefer the 10" to the 9" after trying them side by side. The size gives you better-designed trackpads/keys, too (in the Eee PC line anyway).

How important is battery life? Newer models have the new polymer battery, for longer life and/or a smaller, lighter size.

Do yuo want to get the highest-resolution screen, to see more of a page? There's the one HP 2133 (superseded by a new one recently) with a higher-res screen, but costs more.

Windows XP isn't bad on a netbook. Avoid Windows Vista, based on the overall negative response of netbook users.

Aside from all of the 'try before you buy', have you read this 'netbook for travel' thread?

Any other questions? Best to check there - then check prices here.

Mikey likes it

BiziBB, awesome response. Thanks for that.

I probably won't be able to demo the el cheapo Dell, but will head to a couple of stores to see the eee and whatever others I can put hands on.

Mikey likes it

I have little interest in anything Windowsy, but I get your point. For example, I may want to listen to my iTunes library over a wireless network to the netbook. If that's not pretty simple to do under Linux, then that may be more than I want to sign up for.

Given my limited use (really just web browsing), will 8 megs be enough for an XP machine? Guess I don't know how much space the OS will consume, even stripped of its bloat.

deubster

Nobody's mentioned Lenovo Ideapad S10 yet? 10.2", Atom N270 1.6 GHz processor, 80 Gb HD, 512 Mb (1.5 Gb max) RAM, XP Home SP2. Currently $300 at Amazon.

BiziBB

Lenovo S10 just added - a great deal and a well-regarded netbook in present company.
I originally included it but lost a few items from my original list with an edit-gone-wrong.

valve bouncer

A few from Japan for anybody interested. From www.kakaku.com , Japanese only sorry.
MSI Wind Netbook U100 Vogue-BK 160g-1g-1.6 Atom 39,560 yen
Lenovo IdeaPad S10e 4068AGJ 160g-1g-1.6 Atom 38,500 yen
Asus Eee PC 900-X 16g-1g- Celeron 900 31,697 yen
Acer Aspire one AOA150-Bc1 160g-1g-1.6 Atom 42,710 yen

Mikey likes it

I ordered the Dell Mini from Sams. It's one of the cheapest available, I like that it's fanless and uses SSD and is therefore silent, and if I hate it I can just take it to the local club and return it, no questions asked.

Wonder if the 4-6 week delivery timeframe quoted in my order confirmation (and on the Sams Club website) is accurate?

FLLDL

I also ordered one yesterday, but direct from Dell (not a sam's member). My ship date is listed as 2/26, and I had made some mild modifications from the base model.

I can't believe how cheap these things are. Can't wait to test mine out.

BiziBB

Let me know if it's a deal worth posting on the price list. Thanks!

Mikey likes it

Mine was the deal ScottC posted.

Kgmm77

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

Dell Mini 9 purchased in Dixons Tax Free at Heathrow for �297.